/«^- 



SPEECH OF ME. LI^ULEY:, 

OF MISSOURI, 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, JUNE 19, lx'>'\. 



Mr. Spr.AKKR, I ask tlie indiili^ciico of tlio House to make a personal explanation. It hits 
not been mj liahit to trespass on tlie time and attention of llic iJonse. I liuve ^one quiittiy > n 
in tlic cliscliai-gc of my pul)lic duties, attendinj; to suljjects and matters of interest to my <uii- 
stituenls ; nor would 1 now consent to say any tiiinj; of tlic polities of the country, but liial ;in 
article in tlie Uni'in — the Atlministration organ of this city — of the 17th inst., ;-ti^;m:itizes a 
portion of my constituents, and implicates me in such a manner as to demand imperatively at 
my hands a vindication of them ai d myself. 1 quote from that article as follows : 

" In the northeast the Jvnow Nothings and lientonians will probably combine <m 
" Mr. Lindly, the present representative, who has acted with the Know Nothin,is dnr- 
" insj the present session. There is an evident coalition throughout that State bctnc" n 
" the JJenton or Black Rei)ublican forces and the Know Nothings, by which a coalition li - 
" gislature is to be elected, if possible; so that liie bargain lor two llnilcd States ^scn.'.tnrs 
" may be carried out, the electoral vote of the State thrown away on Fillmore, and the 
" choice for the Presidency devolved on the House, and a majority of Bcntonians sent !o 
" Congress " 

In the whole article, Benton Democrats and Black Republicans arespoken of as identical: 
and as it is charged that they and the Americans are about to combine in my favor, I owe ii 
not only to them as my constituents and former supporters, but I owe it to myself to stand 
forth in tlieir defence and my own vindication. And, sir, I shall do this without athoughl as 
to what may be their course in the future, and in total disregard of the ellect it may have 
upon me with others; for, I believe the Benton Democracy of my district, v,ho are thus, 
by this article, falsely identified with the llepublican party, are as Union-loving, as conser- 
vative, as true and loyal to the institutions of Missouri, as any citizens wc have. 

Since 1849, I have observed with some degree of interest, the unrelenting warfare that 
has been waged by the Anti-Benton faction of Missouri again>t Col. Benton and his friends. 
If there was any pretence of principle on the part of the Anties, they have long since aban- 
doned it. There is nothing in the contest more than a personal warfare. Col. JJenton. the 
venerable chief of tlie Democratic parly, and leader of it for years in Missouri — he v.ho had 
been the friend of Jacksgn, who had been the vindicator of his character and defender of his 
administration; who had met its enemies when they came like the waves of the sea, and 
turned them back — he was getting old in his seat in the Senate — he had been too lung in the 
way, and too much eclipsed the younger and more anibitious members of the party in Missouri. 
Many of them wanted his place, and they combined together for his destruction under the 
name of Anti-Bentons, as expressive of their personal hostility to him. From that time this 
Anti-Benton faction, except in its malignity towards Col. Benton, has changed with every 
changing scene, and has not failed to betray every thing with which it has been con;u.ted. 
As Democrats they betrayed Benton in 1850, and sold his seat in the Senate to a VVh:g. .\s 
Democrats in 1854 they betrayed him again, and gave his seat in this House to an Anieriean. 
And yet they turn up their eyes in holy horror if they even suspect that he might get some 
outside aid to crush the treason of his own party in Missouri. The Anties next betiajcd 
even Anti-Bentonism itself, and joined the American party by hundreds, because of its mys- 
terious power as displayed in the defeat of Benton, but with their accustomed facility, they 
soon turned recreant to the American party. After the defeat in Virginia they abandom d 
and denounced it on the plea, poor innocent souls, that they had been deluded and reduced 
into its councils, though every principle and pledge had been fully explained to them in advance. 

And now, in conjunction with the Washington Union, they are about to betray Mr. Bu- 
chanan, by attempting to drive the Benton Democracy from hjm, and ensure his defeat in 
Missouri, "if that is not already past praying for. Why this abuse of Col. Benton and his 
friends, when he is working for Mr. Buchanan, and to my personal knowledge has been hos- 
tile, from the beginning, tothe movement in favor of Mr. Fremont,' 

Mr. Speaker. We all remember what was the tone of the Union newspaper before the 
Democratic nomination. Its bitter opposition to the nomination of Mr. Buchanan is well 
known, and as the administration of Gen. Pierce recognized and fostered the An^^-I.cnt.m 
faction of Missouri, as it did the Free Soil faction of New York, thereby giving tin m il.t ir 
vitality and strength, we may well imagine that it would be no unwilling task on the part of 
the Union to join the Anties in their recreancy to Mr. Buchanan, if by his success theie should 
be any probability that Col. Benton will rise in public favor. 

AmeiKaii Urgun. Pniii. 



t^'^ll 



.V' 

2 



6 



And now, sir, wiiirli is the regular party of my State ? The Benton convention met in 
pursuance to a call by the regular Slate Executive Committee, as such. 1 he proceedings 
were regular, and their delegates were sent to the Cincinnati convention to I'avor the nomi- 
nation of James Buchanan. Col. Benton himself had declared for Mr. Buchanan before 
the nomination. The Anties went there bitterly opposed to him, and by the influence of 
the Douglas-Pierce Democracy, obtained seats in the convention, and voted constantly 
against Mr. Buchanan, till forced by the action of the convention to give him a i-eluctunt 
vote on the final ballot. In the Spring, when it was thought Mr. Douglas or Pierce would be 
the nominee, and the aid of the Benton -party would be desirable, the victory of the Benton 
Democracy in St. Louis was spoken of by this same Union in its issue of April 9th, as 
follows : 

" From St. Louis, the very hot-bed of Know Nothingism, we have tidings of a full and 
" brilliant Democratic victory." 

But now that Mr. Buchanan is the nominee, and the Benton Democracy warm for him, 
they are denounced by this same press as Black Kepiiblicans. 

The reason is plain. The Anties tliitik they see the hand writing on the wall They think 
there is a probability that Col. Benton will be again returned to his seat in the Senate, and 
continued there until the old veteran shall die at his post, with his armour on, and his face to 
his foes — that he will close his distinguished career on the same great theatre where he has 
heretofore so nobly earned and gracefully worn his laurels. And they fear that, holding that 
position, should his old associate in the Senate, Mr. Buchanan, be elected. Col. Benton will 
have so much influence with the Administration, as to crush forever the hopes of the Anti- 
Benton faction i,n Missouri. With this view it is evident they prefer the defeat rather than 
the success of Mr. Buchanan, if Col. Benton is to hold a place in his favor. 

Mr. Speaker, I am done witli this subject. I am not of the Democratic party, but am la- 
boring for another party, more conservative of the interests and welfare of the country. 
What I have said of the Missouri Democracy is simply my understand ing of the facts, given 
to vindicate a part of my constituents from misrepresentation. They have heretofore sup- 
ported me, and I engage in this defence as a duty to them for the past, and in utter disregard 
of my fate in the future. 

Sir I am opposed to this Anti-Benton party, because I do not believe its leaders are sincere or 
honest in any of their professions. Not only do I judge this from their treatment of Col. Benton, 
theirreiterating charges against him from which in years pastthey had themselves defended him, 
but because they are presumptious and proscriptive to the last degree. They assume to have 
taken into their special custody the slave interest of Missouri, and freely denounce as Republi- 
cans and Abolitionists men of Southern education, slave holders and all others who do not con- 
form to and maintain every arbitrary tenet which they set up, and yet every principle they 
profess, when their interest requires, they abandon without regret or hesitation. Making it a 
party test to disbelieve in the power of Congress to legislate on the subject of slavery in the 
territories, they come into this hall and vote and speak in favor of the exercise of that power, 
and for men who freely admit it, and against those who deny it — abandoning thus without com- 
punction that tenet which is the fundamental doctrine of their faction. They have disparaged 
the people of the free States indiscriminately with no good end in view, but to excite against 
them the feelings of our slave-holding population that it may redound to their political ad- 
vantage. They have for several years past bitterly denounced the foreign population of our 
State as free-soil and dangerous to the slave interest, simply because they belonged to the 
Benton Democrats, but now since the rise of the American party they proclaim these same 
foreigners to be better citizens than those who are " native and to the manner born." But 
the most unblushing of all their tergiversations is the new born love which they in common with 
the Democratic leaders generally profess for the Old Line Whigs and the memory of Henry 
Clay. Yes, they who during his whole life followed him with most bitter and relentless per- 
secution — who traduced his private character — who charged him with bargain and corruption, 
-who denounced all his systems of liberal legislation, who sneered at his patriotism and derided 
his sincerity — but who could not meet him in debate ; they who were eclipsed by the brilliancy 
of hjs genius, who were borne down by the power of his eloquence, whoshrunkfrom theglance 
of his eagle eye and trembled before the frown of his majestic brow, but who could, neverthe- 
less, shoot the poisoned arrows of their calumny into his great and noble heart — they can 
now assemble around the places sacred to his memory, sing their posans and shed their croc- 
odile tears in tribute to his many virtues, and all this with the sinister purpose, and that alone, 
of seducing the Old Line Whigs from the support of that staunch conservative patriot, Millard 
Fillmore, of Avhom Henry Clay himself said " The country owes him a debt of gi-atitude it 
cannot easily repay." 

But,' Mr. Speaker, I am charged by the orators and presses of the Anti-Benton faction of 
Missouri as a Free Soiler. I who have been raised and educated to believe in the propriety 
of Southern instilutions, and who have never uttered one word against slavery either as it 
exists or in the abstract, and the charges are founded chiefly in respect to my action during the 
present session of Congress. Let me review it briefly : 

When I came to this Congress I y/as unwilljng to give a single yote that might be regarded 



as endorsing President Pierre. I pi'oclaiinid llial in lliis Hall willmiil. l.esiliUiiin, \\u>\ did il 
because I Regarded iiis Adinii)ir<trali(ni as insincere and unpatriolic. 1 had ol)?*crved \ih action. 
He came inlo power under llie niosl favduraljle auspices, but swayed bj' nidlivch ol'perHOiial 
interest or purty obligation, rather tlian the desire to pnrsne a ])lain and simple line of duly 
with no end in view but his (•ouiitry's i^ood, lie chose to exert all his encri>> and p.ilroiiapc 
to harmonize the many adverse elements which had eomhined in his eleeiion. With tliis 
wbjeet in view, in selecting his Cabinet lie eall<'.d around liini men of the most extreme an*! 
•liscordarit opitiions, whose political tenets and eonduet had bc'cn most sij^tmlly rebuked by 
the Union hiving spirit wliicl) pervaded the. popular mind in iN.iO. 'I'liis paiidiMina; to every 
faction for the sake, of popularity, and especially the eimccssirMis made and o(lice« >;ivpntolh<' 
Free ISoikrs of the North, at the sacrifice of the true eonservalive men of tin; country, was 
fully exposed and bitterly denounced during; the last ("ontcrc'-s by distin):;uislied men of all 
parties. Willi none of whom did I more fully concur than with my coll<'ap;ue, (Mr. Caruthers.) 
who then said : " General Pierce came into power almost by acclamation — the fires of parly 
" were well niph extinguished ; even opponents were disposed to approve. Did \iv not, in th« 
" outset of his Ad minis I ration, in the selection of his coii-<titulional advisers, instead of calling.'; 
" around him the sound national men of his party, to eotn-iliate factions, and siM-tions, ami 
" prejudices, call around liim a heterogeneous association of extremes, vvhich have given us 
" a series of blunders and inconsistencies which have weakened the nation's laith, the nation'-i 
" confidence, and the nation's love? 

That was spoken in this House on the 7th day of April, 1^.')4, at which lime the .\dniinis 
tration was as fully committed to the Kansas mt*asure as at any siibsequent day. What has 
it since done to restore what its " blunders and inconsistencies"' bad then forfeited " the 
nation's faith, the nation's confidence, the nation's love." 

The Soft Party of New York is notcu'iousiy the Free Soil Pai'ty of that Stale, being tlie nn-ii 
who nominated Van Buren and Adams at liulialo, in 184^. That this is the Administration 
party in that State, I show by the National Democrat, published in New Vork. and now sup- 
porting Mr. Buchanan. In its issue of April li2, IH.'jfj, speaking of the Softs, it says : 

♦' Fortified by the palroniv^-c nf Ihc gorernmcnl, and stimulated by the outside feeling in high 
" quarler.s, which classes ihein as Democrats, they are organized for nfcw crusades agaitist 
"the Democratic party. That organization is the Soils — llw suiiportirs in tlii!f Stair of tke 
"^Administration; entertaining now tlie same views upon the slavery oliestion, which they 
•' held in 1844, and 1848," Nc. 

The same paper has an article headed "A word in season to Southern Demodrats," from 
which I (]Uote as follows : 

" The National Democrats of New York refrained from opposing the administration of Mr. 
•' Pierce, until longer support of it would have degraded them ; until it itisisteri upon pursn- 
" ing a line of policy, which, it was foreseen, would result in building up anew the Free Soil 
" party of 1848." 

From that same paper, of its issue of April 19) 1856, I quote as follows : 

"On the one hand the friends of Van Buren and Marcy present themselves, urging thai 
" their recognition by this present .idininistration should he taken in bar of all investigation of 
*' antecedents; on the other hand the Hard or National Democrats have taken a solemn and 
" serious appeal from tlie proscriptions of the Administration and its recognition of umraslnd 
" Molitionists as better Democrats than themselves.'^ 

" When the separation of Hards and Softs occurred in 18.5.M, after the preliminary session 
" of the Syracuse Convention had been broken up by prize fighters and bullies, imported by 
" the Soft leaders from New York city, the .idniinlstration at H'askingion, influenced by 
" Marcy, took upon itself to declare the Free Sailers and not the Nationals to be the regular 
" Democrao]].^^ 

" The real offence for which Judge Bronson was removed, whatever the pretense might 
" have been, was his refusal to support the Soft ticket, ornamented by Kelly, Grover, Dryer, 
" & Co., all unchanged Free-soilers." 

The Washington Sentinel, also a Democratic paper, now in the support of .Mr. Btichanan, 
speaking of Mr. Pierce, says : 

" You are asked if his course in the New York controvpr-^y — his prostrifion of the true 
" sound Constitutional men in the North, and his vitalizatiou of the \'an Huren Frecsoiler^, 
" met your approbation .' Your answer is again in the negative ; and yet here is the frightful 
" record before you." 

General Pierce declared in presence of Hon. .lere. Clemens, that in bis opinion the Kan-a« 
bill was a measure of freedom, and if its principles should obtain and be established, no more 
Slave States would come into the Union. He seems to have determined that his prediction 
should be realized at least in the case of Kansas. Wheti we divided Nebraska into two ter- 
ritories, the South expected the members of the territorial administration of Kansas to be 
from the South. But it suited General Pierce to s»nd the Sout'iern man to Nebraska, and 
Free Soil Gov. Reeder to Kansas. Hear what he himself says of the conduct of that Gover- 
nor. I quote from his message : 

" The Governor of the Territory of Kansas, commissioned, as before stated, on the 'J'JIli of 



•• Jjiie, 1854, did not reach the designuted seat of his government until the 7th of the ensuing 
•• October ; and even then failed to make the first step in its legal organization — that of ordnr- 
" ina; tiie census or enumeration of its inhabitants — until so late a day that the election of the 
" members of the Legislative Assembly did not take place until the 30th of March, 1855, nor 
" it> )ueeting imtil the 2d of July, 1855. So that for a year after the Territory was consti- 
" luted by the act of Congress and the officers to be appointed by the Federal Executive had 
'• liccn commissioned, it was without a complete government, without any legislative author- 
■• ity, without local law, and, of course, without the ordinary guarantees of peace and public 
" order." 

Wliy did he suffer this delay — why did he permit these growing evils, and not remove Mr- 
Recder when so loudly called for by the people of Kansas .' 

iVly colleague, (Mr. Oliver,) speaking of this matter, holds this language : 

" iN'ow, the question naturally arises, what occasioned this marked delay on his part.' 
" What was the cause of this tardiness of his movements.' There is, according to the con- 
'• victions of my mind, from all the light before me, but one answer to be given to these 
'• questions, and that answer is, that Governor Reeder, when he accepted the office of Gov- 
•• t'inor of the Territory of Kansas, accepted it with the understanding, at least in his own 
" Ujind, that he would administer it in such a way as to make the Territory free soil, if pos- 
•• sil)le." 

When we reflect that to have made Kansas free soil by action of the Federal Executive, he 
would have allayed the excitement aarainst him in the North for his favor to the Kansas bill, 
may we not justly infer that President Pierce was privy to this understanding of Gov. Reed- 
er, tliat )je would make it free territory if possible.' If not, why was it, that after all this 
delinquency with which the President charges him, and after his return to Easton, and his 
speech there denoimcing the Missourians, he was fully endorsed by the Union, Mr. Pierce's 
organ, and still retained in his office.' — and was finally removed for alleged speculations in 
the public lands ; and the President expresses himself " embarrassed to know how to retain 
him in office, and will hear any satisfactory explanation of that matter ; " but asks for none 
respecting his free soil efforts, and other misdeeds, in Kansas. 

' If these facts, together with the President's hostility to River and Harbor improvements, 
in which the people of my district are so much interested, are no! enough, will not his recent 
decapitation and dismission by his own party, justify me in having refused a vote that would 
endorse his administration.' 

But 1 am charged to be a Free-soiler, because, in the election for Speaker, I east my vote 
for Mr. Fuller. Sir, I shall engage in no defence of that gentleman ; he needs none. There 
are none here from the South to dissent from a word he said in defining his opinions. He 
assumed a broad national position, conservative of what he regarded as Southern rights. He 
denied the power of Congress, and of the territorial government, to legislate on the subject of 
slavery therein, except to protect persons in their property ; and then, amid the tide of anti- 
slavery sentiment in his own State, that set against him, he went before his constituents and 
maintained the same views with a manliness and boldness that might challenge the admira' 
tion, if it did not vie with the chivalry of the South. But, sir, letters have been written from 
here to different parts of the country, in which quotations are made from some old letters and 
speeches of Mr. Fuller, to prove that he is a " VVilmot proviso man up to the hub." But in 
his vindication on this floor, several weeks ago, he denounced the letters from which the ex- 
tracts were made as base forgeries. Yet those gentlemen have neither had the ability to 
refute what Mr. Fuller has said with reference to the fraudulent letters thus quoted against 
liim, nor the magnanimity to take back publicly what they had published and sent to the 
ruuntry. 

Jiut, sir, how can the Anti-Benton Democracy object to my vote for Fuller, when his posi- 
i .' n is identical with the 4th resolution, on the subject of slavery, passed liy the Missouri 
lej islature of 1849, and which is yet the basis of their creed. But 1 am a Free Soilcr, they 
say, because 1 did not support the gentleman from Illinois, (Mr. Richardson,) when he was 
nominated. Now, sir, 1 wish to show what was the position of the gentleman from Illinois. 
1 wish to show that he was the " Wilmot proviso man up to the hub," and not Mr. Fuller, 
and this I shall prove from his record. 

In a speech delivered in this House, in 1850, he used this language : 

•' The Missouri compromise also abolished slavery north of .360 30'. That compromise was 
" passed, not to keep the Territory free north of that latitude, but because the Laws of Loui- 
'■ isiaiia, when we acquired it, recognized slavery, and carried it, consequently, unless re- 
" pealed, to all the territory. But I maintain, sir, that slavery is the creature of municipal 
" law, and does not and cannot exist one moment without it. If territory is free, there is no 
•' necessity to pass any law — it will remain so." 

" The people of the non-slaveholding States believe thatthc territory we acquired from Mex- 
" ico by the treaty of peace, brought with it the laws not inconsistent with our constitution, 
" and that those laws excluded slavery. If there is any representative from the non-slave- 
" holding States that denies either of these propositions, I ask him to rise in his place and say 
" so. There arc none who can or dare deny it." 



" This is a linivcr-=al sentiment at the Nortli, and I micht rrfcr td all the •* peer lies diat Imve 
*' been marie at tliis session of Coiiiirrss and tlie last Id sliow ilial cvi'i-y one from tlic nonslavc- 
" holding Slates, Free .Soilers and all, hold that the territurics are now free. If this is true, 
" what more can you do? They arc free now and will ever remain so; they are free by the 
" law of nations, they are free by the laws of nature, they will remain free Ironi causes to 
*' which I have already referred, forever." 

" 1 do not, and cannot belim'c, that our Constitution carries and protects slavery except in 
•' States, nor do I believe that its framers intendid that it should extend this in>titution. I be- 
" lieve it was formed for far hia;hcr and nobler ]inr|)OMs." 

The getillenian from Illinois assumed the position that the laws of Mexico bcinp; An'vi-Sia- 
very and not inconsistent witii the Constitution, would, if not repealed, exclude slavery from 
and make the territories free. He then used this remarkable language : 

" There is one thins ihal 1 wish, in this connection, Mr. Chairman, to say to the gentlemen 
" from the South, and the Northern Whi^js: If the bill for territorial }:;ovcrnminls, silent ujion 
♦' the subject of slavery, shall be defeated, then 1 am for !)ills with the Wihnot Proviso, in or- 
♦' der to give governments to the people in the territories; and 1 speak for four of my colleagues, 
" assured that they will feel constrained to pursue a like course. And if General Taylor 
" shall approve the proviso, then it will have passed ; and it is for them to determine what 
" shall or shall not be done, and let the responsibility rest wi'h them. I believe i. ongress has 
" full power to pass such laws as they may think proper for the government of the territories. 
" There is, consequently, no constitutional dillicultii s in my road." 

It is not simply his admitting the power of Congress to exclude slavery that made his posi- 
tion so objectionable, but hisdcmanding that slavery should be excluded from the territo- 
ries acquired from Mexico, by permitting the anti-slave laws of that country to remain unre- 
pealed ; or, if that should not be allc^wc'd, he would vote to exclude it, in express terms, by 
the passage of the Wilmot proviso. Bui slavery must be excluded ; if not in one way, then 
by another. 

'Mr. RICHARDSON. The gentleman from Missouri has read, with the intention of sending 
to the country, a portion of the remarks made by me on this floor in 1850, which I in his 
hearing and upon this floor repudiated as unworthy of the position 1 then occupied, and which 
I now occupy. All 1 desire, is, that the correction in reference to the last clause which the 
gentleman has read, may go forth to the country with the gentleman's comments on it. 
1 have no further desire. 

Mr. LINDLEY. I wish to ask the gentleman how many times was I called upon to vote 
for him before he repudiated and took back that last clause .' 

Mr. RICHARDSON. I reply to the gentleman, so far as I am concerned, that I never 
called on the gentleman to vote for me once. 

Mr. LINDLEY. I do not say that. How long, I ask, was the gentleman up before the 
House as a candidate, with that speech staring Southern men in the face, before it was 
repudiated ? From the 3d of December to the 14th of January did that speech remain undis- 
turbed, and in full force, and the " gallant seventy-four" voting for the gentleman, and they 
all proclaimed sound and true to the South. 

I was saying only that the Anti-Benton Democrats of .VTissouri charged me with Freesoilism, 
because 1 refused "to vote for the gentleman from Illinois. How could I vote for him, with 
that record staring me in the face.- I am saying nothing with a view to affect the gentleman 
from Illinois, but am speaking only in my own vindication. I show the record presented by 
the gentleman, and the one prese'nted by Mr. Fuller. 1 show, that, if the records make 
either gentleman " a Wilmot-proviso man up to the hub," it is the gentleman from Illinois. 

Mr. HARRIS, of Alabama, (interrupting.) As the record of a man is generally made up 
by his vote, I wish simply to be allowed the privilege of asking the gentleman from Illinois 
whether he ever voted for the Wilmot proviso.' 

Mr. RICHARDSON. Never. 

Mr. LINDLEY. I now ask the gentleman whether ho ever voted to exclude slavery from 
the Territories ? 

Mr. RICHARDSON. How— by the Wilmot proviso.' 

Mr. LINDLEY. By act of Congress. 

Mr. RICHARDSON. I will say to the gentleman, very frankly what is my recollection. 
1 voted against the Wilmot proviso in the Oregon bill. After it was put in over my vote, 
I voted for the bill, as did a large number of gentlemen from the South. 

1 desire to say to the gentleman another thing. In this matter of making up records. 1 have 
no contest with Mr. Fuller — none whatever I have presented my record before the coun- 
try by my acts — I intend to stand or fall by them. I have no contest with any man here or 
elsewhere about his devotion to this or that portion of the country. In casting my votes, 
since I have been a member of Congress, I have done so on the convictions of my judgment, 
looking to the whole country, and to no portion of it. 

Mr. LINDLEY. I have not charged the gentleman with insincerity in voting— I do not 
wish to do so now. When he said that he would vote for the Wilmot proviso with four of 
his colleagues, I presume he was sincere- equally as sincere as when afterwards, as a candi- 



6 

date for Speaker, he stood up before the House and country and repudiated the position he 
had then taken. 

Mr. CARUTHERS. Wil! my colleague alloAv me to ask him a question? 

Mr. LliVDLEY. I yield for that purpose with pleasure. 

Mr. CARUTHER.S. It is the first time I have ever interrupted any gentleman in his speech. 
I waited till my colleunue had concluded his sfntence, before 1 interrupted him. He says 
that forged letters have been paraded and circulated over the country to the prejudice of Mr. 
Fuller. I wish to know of my coilea2;ue whether he means to be understood, that when 
J circulated that letter, I knew or had any means of knowing that it wp.s forged? 

Mr. LIIVDLEY. j\ly colleague will remember that Mr. Fuller himself intimated the 
.source of its origin, and expressly exonerated the gentleman who had circulated it from here 
as having any knowledge that it was forged or fraudulenty altered. And, with the personal 
regard and kindly feelings I entertain for my colleague, I would be the last man to cast a 
stigma upon his character as an honorable gentleman. When Mr. Fuller himself expressly 
exonerated him 

Nr. CARUTHER,S. I was aware that Mr. Fuller had thus exonerated me here ; that as 
an tionorable man he did not make the charge, but expressly exculpated those of us who had 
circulated that letter. But it had been charged by some calumnious editors in our State that 
I had done this thing. And, from the manner in which the gentleman spoke, I wished to 
know whether he would have his speech so construed in Missouri. I am informed by gentle- 
men near me that I did not hear the Avhole of his remark, and therefore beg pardon for hav- 
ing interrupted him. 

Mr. LINDLEY. I will ask my friend a question — whether it would not be the part of 
magnanimity to give expression to the fact that he now repudiates that letter? 

Mr. CARUTHERS. I will inform my colleague, so that he may have no fears about my 
taking care of my personal honor, that I have this dtiy indicted a circular to my people, in 
which I insert the letter which Mr. Fuller says is genuine. 

Mr. LINDLEY. I do not wish to say anything to injure my colleague before his constitu- 
ents, and I will say, that I did not presume it would comport Avith his sense of honor, to persist 
in spreading before the country a letter which he discovered was forged, and am glad to hear 
that he is making the correction. 

Mr. Speaker, I have been misrepresented in respect to the Kansas bill. When that ques- 
tion was forced upon the consideration of this House, I expressed myself uniformly as willing 
to vote for the repeal of the Missouri Compromise, because I believed it wrong in principle, 
and unjust. I wished to do this in plain and ordinary language, by referring to the act of 
1S20, and declaring the 8lh section to be repealed. There would liave been no ambiguity in 
this. It would have left the Territories in statu quo before the Compromise was passed. The 
laws protecting slavery which then existed, and which were guarantied to the people by the 
treaty with France, would have again obtained, and southern men would have been protected 
in their property pending the Territorial government. But, as the bill passed, the Democracy 
ditfer, even here, as to its meaning — those of the south denying squatter sovereignty, or the 
right of the Territorial government to exclude slavery until they apply to come into the 
Union as a State, and lience claim it as an advantage to the south, as enabling Southern men 
to go there and be protected by them ; those of the north — with President Pierce in the lead — 
claiming the right for the people of the Territories to regulate that matter while a Territory, 
and then, by reason of the great preponderence of the northern population, claim it as a 
measure of freedom or free soil. This is exceedingly unfortunate. Had the bill merely re- 
pealed the 8th section of the Missouri Compromise, and have contained simply the provisions 
of the Territorial bills of 1850, declaring that when admitted as a State it should be with or 
without slavery, as her constitution should declare, we would have avoided all this trouble in 
Kansas. The people would have remained quiet till the time of their application to be ad- 
mitted as a State ; and the excitement then, if high, would have, been but temporary, and 
when subsided, the question would havfe been at rest forever. But, with a diversity of opin- 
ion as to the meaning of the bill, the people have gone there from the north and the south 
armed for a conflict to determine prematurely the existence of slavery in these Territories ; 
hence we have had bloodsJied and an approach to civil war, that threatens the existence of 
our free government — and who can foresee the end? That the Democratic party in the north 
claimed before the people that the Kansas bill was a measure of freedom, I can refer to the 
speeches of Judge Douglas, at Indianapolis and Chicago — also. General Shield's speech. 
At Chicago, J ud^e Douglas asked the exc^^^d audience why they objected to him. Was it 
because he had helped repeal the Mis" i compromise? They answered, yes. Then, said 
he, " what is that Compromise; a line prohibiting slavery north and virtually recognizing it 
south? Is tliere a man in this crowd that is willing to recognize slavery south of any line ?" 

Early in the session, when the gentleman from Kentucky, (Mr. Cox,) proved by several 
gentlemen of the Republican party, that their Democratic opponents had taken the ground 
that the Kansas bill favored free soil, he was taunted by southern Democrats here for bring- 
ing such testimony against the Democracy. Yet, in a few weeks, these same southern gen- 
tlemen went to New Hampshire to aid in carrying that State for the Democracy, and there 



they found the Administration press, and sneh orators as Hon. C. L. Woodbury and Harry 
Hibbard, the leader of the Admiiiistiatioii in last Connress and a strong advocate of the Ne- 
braska !)iil, all claiming it as a measure in favor of free soil. I have time to read hut one 
extract of the maTiy I have ln-fore me ; 

"And, therefore, there is no need of an Abolition or a Rcpiihliean party to prevent slavery 
" extension. Let the people alone, and they will in every case prevent its extension of their 
" own free will and aecord. AH that is necessary is to maintain their right to decide this 
" question, the Democratic doctrine of pup til nr sorerrifinty, and you trill liaie no inort slare Slates ; 
" not one. The very system upon which our Territories and new States are so rapidly popu- 
" lated, the source from which that inipulation is 'Jerivcd, the uniform cxiierience of years, 
'• and the setllemeiit of immense territories recently ac(piircd, all show conclusively that 
'• from our present territory is to be carved out no new slave States. The chief emit;'ration 
" is from the Northern Stales, and always must be, as their i)opulation so much predomi- 
" nates. The emigration from Europe, from whence conuw whole columns, is just as unal- 
" terably opposed to slavery as the people of the Northern Stales. Are these the. men to 
" make shivery an institution of new States which they settle.' Most certainly not. They 
" will not do it, and therefore the new States must lie free! We do not claim this result, which 
" we regard as a fixed fact, as a triumph of the North over the South. Our party has never 
" been arrayed one section against another; it looks only to the good of the whole country. 
♦' It knows no North, no South. But, as individuals, we canru)t but feel « pleasure that 
" slarery has reached its utmost limits in this countr>i " 

This is from the Pierce organ, in New Hamiishire, published during the canvass ; and the 
speeches of VV'oodbury and Hibhard express the same views. And yet, with this division of 
opinion between the Democracy North and South as to the meaning and ell'ect of that bill, ia 
their conventions they proclaim the principles of the Kansas bill — being particularly careful 
not to explain definitely what those principles are. Are they sincere ? 

Sir, when I see these things, behold the Democratic party, by letters and speeches from 
this Capitol, by the tone of its orators and its press, attempting to solidify and rally to their 
support the South as a section, I distrust their devotion to the union of the States, and ani 
unwilling to intrust them with power. 

IJut the party which is to me most odious, and to the country most dangerous, is that known 
as the Republican party of the North — a party whose success depends on local issues — which 
appeals to sectional prejudices whose principles and objects are all at war with the in- 
stitutions of the South. How can such a party succeed without sealing the fate of the Con- 
stitution.' It must not be. Its growth must be checked, its objects defeated, its organiza- 
tion broken to fragments. 

Sir, when I saw the action of the two parties, and the sectional position they had assumed, 
so dangerous to the institutions of our Government, and saw that the middle ground and the 
conservatism that had always characterized the Whig party, was also the distinguishing 
feature of the American party, I did not hesitate where to go; and although doubting, if not 
opposing, some otlier principles of the American party, yet, when I have since seen the for- 
eign population cling together almost with unanimity, wliile it is denounced as little less than 
felony for Americans to do the same. When I see the foreign vote as such constitutes a con- 
troling political element in the country, and is cast as a foreign rote, 1 can only say I re- 
gard this as the highest justification for me to vote as an American. 

The American party is denounced by the Sewards and Greeleysof Republicanism as a pro- 
Southern, while the Democracy charge it asAbolition. Yes they who can go to Cincinnati 
and fraternize with the men of the Buffalo convention of 1848, and who have been Free Soil 
and Abolition ever since, charge the Ame»iican party with Abolition because when Free 
Soilers creep into it, the party purges itself, and sets them afloat, and if not for a time as 
numerous, it is more pure than the Democracy which recognizes Free Soilers as good enough. "^ 

But who do the Abolitionists and Republicans say are their enemies at the North — Wendel 
Phillips the prince of Abolitionists, made a great speech in April last. Hear what he says of the 
Americans. 

"And nothing but an anti-slavery sentiment that will trample Know Nothing lodges indig- 
" nantly under its feet, radical as we can make it, will save even Charles Sumner. If there is 
" any man here who loves the Free Soil party, let him welcome such meetings as these. The 
" game I have indicated is the one which is to be played, and the Republican party cannot 
" fight that battle with any mere political organization; they cannot meet those secret lodges,, 
"break those banded and marshaled hosts arrayed against them." 

Does that look like the American-party Nortli was allied with Abolition or Republicanism. 
No Sir. The American party is the enemy of all the Anti-slavery parties and they tremble be- 
fore the tread of its marsliaicd hosts, and fear defeat and destruction at its hands, but 
neither feel or express any ap|)rehension of danger from the terrific Democracy. 

Sir, the question of slavery is above all others the most dangerous to the peace of the country. 
Our greatest statesmen, who heretofore looked calmly on when the popular mind was fren 
zied with excitement on any other question, trembled wit!" fear when the relation of slavery 
was to be made a subject of party division among the peop. ■ Ti'" ; and ^ain they compro- 




rt/ti/Se^ss 




9l9 



1 



mised it but all in vain. It is now upon the country in it W 7 j' 
spicuous issue on which is to be made the Presidential canvas*. 

alarmed at the sectional aspect assumed by those two powerful organization^, '^•'i' Q ^ 
and Democratic parties. Each with the hope of party triumph, rallying one sectioi. . ic 
country against the other, in a contest in which is involved, not only the peace of the 
country, but the very existence of our Constitution and Government, and the people are be- 
ginning to look to a party which is truly American and national, which kno"Ws no section, but 
. is conservative of the rights of all. A party with Millard Fillmore at its head, whose past 
Administration is an earnest of his future ; he who was the subject of eulogy by such states- 
men as Clay and Cass, and all the political men of the country, whether friends or opponents. 
There is one, sir, so expressive of my own views, so eloquent, which is so just to the subject, 
and so creditable to the author, that I shall read an extract from the eulogy pronounced by 
my colleague (Mr. Caruthers) during the last Congress. He says : 

" When the Whig party met ip convention at Baltimore — when it came to act upon the 
•' claims of that noble National Whig, Millard Fillmore, — he who had stood so calmly and 
«' skillfully at the helm during the wild ragings of the storm that had swept over the land — he 
" whose deep devotion to the Union had been proved in those "dark hours" — he who ad- 
" ministered the affairs of this Government with a wisdom, a purity, a moderation, a firmness, 
" only excelled by the great first President — he who had imbedded himself so deeply in the 
" love and confidence of the good men of all parties in all the Union — ke, upon the principles 
" of availability, was sacrificed upon this same altar of northern prejudice, did the sacrifice, 
" allow me to say, the unworthy sacrifice, propitiate their favor.'" 

We are to see, sir, who will now engage to sacrifice this great patriot to the hate of his 
bitter enemy, William H. Seward, and the anti-slavery prejudices of the North. 

The Democratic and Republican parties have begun a novel v.'arfare on Mr. Fillmore ; they 
find no particular fault with him, but claim that he has no strength. This game is understood, 
and I have confidence that the people will see it. For one, sir, I did not wish his prospects 
brighter at the beginning. I awaited the reaction — it is coming, and will come. You can 
see it every where. The people begin to want moderation, firmness, and patriotism in the 
Chief Magistrate, and Millard Fillmore realizes all their hopes. The people see a propriety 
in the American ticket — Millard Fillmore, Andrew Jackson Donaldson. Is there not a pro- 
priety in electing to the high position for which he has been selected, him who was 
the confidential friend, and who bears the name of Andrew Jackson, that in this crisis of 
danger may be revived in the minds of the American people the sentiment of that brave old 
chief, " The Federal Union, it must be preserved," rather than the elevation of that party, 
which is now under the lead of such men as Wise and Gushing, whose records show them to 
have been the bitter revilers of Andrew Jackson. 

Gentlemen may endeavor in vain to disparage the claims, the popularity, the strength, of 
this ticket. The name of Millard Fillmore is cherished by the American people ; he holds a 
large place in their affections and in their confidence. You may decry that name and depress 
that position, but it will continue to grow in the popular heart, to rise on the popular vision 
till it shall stand in its majestic proportions another Ararat on which shall rest the ark of lib- 
erty, whilst on either side of its noble base may dash in madness and in fury the waves of sec- 
tionalism, but to return broken and discomfited from the shock. 



CIUCUL^R. 



The undersigned, mem1:ers of the National Executive 
Coninnittee of the American party, have pleasure in an- 
nouncing to the people, that satisfactory arranfrements 
for the future maintenance of the American Okgan, ns 
an authoritative exponent and advocate of the principles 
of the American Parly, have been completed. 

Recommencins^ its labors, under these new^ auspices, 
the undersigned cheerfully commend the American Ob- 
GAN to the generous eonfulence of the American Party, 
in every section of the Confederacy, and they hope its 
<'olumns may command the widest circulntion. 

HUMPHIIKV iMAP^HALL, of Ky. 

SOLO.MOX G. HAVIN, o: N. Y. 

.1. MORRISON HARKlr>, of .Md. 

JACOli BROOM, of Penn. 
Washington City, D. C. Way IStli, 1S5G. 

Prospectus of tlie Amevican Organ. 

The Amiciucan Organ having been adopted, by the 
Executive '. 'orrniiitice of the American members of dni- 
gress, as the central organ of tlie American ]iari\. tin- 
jiroprietor. witli a view 10 its general and extensive eir- 
.culation Uirougljout the con.ntry. has determined, on con- 



sultation with his political friends, to furnish the same to 
subscribers, whose subscriptions are remitted after May 
1st. and during the montlis of May, June, and July, on 
ihe following reduced tenns, to wit : 

Daily Organ, for one year $3 00 

Daily Organ, for six months • a 00 

Weekly Organ, for one year, to single subscribers 1 50 
Weekly Organ, for six months, to single subscri- 
bers 1 00 



Uibs 



'ight or 



1 25 



50 



Weekly Organ, for one year, to 

more subscribers, eacli 

Weekly Organ, for six months, tn clubs of eight or 

more subscribers, each "..... 

Weekly Or?an, for the campaign, to wit : from 1st 

July to 15th November, each 

All subscriliers whose subscriptions have betn remit- 
ted during the month of Way, have been charged only at 
above rates. 

[jIT^-All eomiriunications should be directed to the 
American Oega.n, SVashincrion Ciiy. D. C. 

VESPASIAN ELLIS, 

Proprietor. 



